U.S. patent number 7,499,771 [Application Number 10/556,677] was granted by the patent office on 2009-03-03 for system for flight management.
This patent grant is currently assigned to Thales. Invention is credited to Christophe Caillaud.
United States Patent |
7,499,771 |
Caillaud |
March 3, 2009 |
System for flight management
Abstract
This flight management system comprises a flight management
computer plotting, during the preparation of a flight by the crew,
a flight plan with branchoffs from where diversion airport joining
trajectories start and which is able, automatically or otherwise,
as a function of the situation encountered during the progress of
the flight, to substitute for the part of the flight plan remaining
to be traversed, one of the diversion airport joining trajectories
scheduled during the preparation of the flight plan. It is
especially useful in the cases of late change of landing
runway.
Inventors: |
Caillaud; Christophe (Blagnac,
FR) |
Assignee: |
Thales (FR)
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Family
ID: |
33306413 |
Appl.
No.: |
10/556,677 |
Filed: |
April 29, 2004 |
PCT
Filed: |
April 29, 2004 |
PCT No.: |
PCT/EP2004/050640 |
371(c)(1),(2),(4) Date: |
November 14, 2005 |
PCT
Pub. No.: |
WO2004/102121 |
PCT
Pub. Date: |
November 25, 2004 |
Prior Publication Data
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Document
Identifier |
Publication Date |
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US 20070050098 A1 |
Mar 1, 2007 |
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Foreign Application Priority Data
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May 16, 2003 [FR] |
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03 05905 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
701/3;
340/961 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G01C
23/00 (20130101); G08G 5/0039 (20130101); G08G
5/0056 (20130101); G08G 5/0021 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
G01C
21/00 (20060101) |
Field of
Search: |
;701/3,201,209,23,300,120,206-208,200,202
;340/961,995.17,995.19,995.21,995.24 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Other References
Bittermann V et al: "Finder, a system providing complex decision
support for commercial transport replanning operations" Digital
Avionics Systems Conference, 1993. 12.sup.th DASC., AIAA/IEEE Fort
Worth, TX, USA Oct. 25-28, 1993, New York, NY USA Oct. 25, 1993.
pp. 141-146. cited by other.
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Primary Examiner: Tran; Dalena
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Lowe Hauptman Ham & Berner,
LLP
Claims
The invention claimed is:
1. A flight management system for aircraft providing a crew of the
aircraft with information on diversion airport joining trajectories
staggered along the path of the aircraft, said flight management
system comprising: a flight management computer for plotting a
flight plan on the basis of a trajectory skeleton having a series
of waypoints associated with various flight constraints on heading,
altitude, speed, introduced by the crew, individually or in
subsets, a redirection point database accessible from the aircraft,
cataloging associations of waypoints, and of skeletons of
trajectories for joining diversion airports starting from said
waypoints termed redirection points, and providing links between
previous said waypoints and said skeletons of trajectories, and a
decision engine activating, when the aircraft passes above or in
proximity to the redirection point and under particular flight
conditions, a modification of the flight plan followed by the
flight management computer for following said trajectory for
joining a diversion airport associated with said redirection point,
said trajectory being constructed on the basis of the information
stored for said redirection point in the redirection point
database.
2. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the particular flight
conditions to be complied with in order to activate the
modification of the flight plan when the aircraft passes through
the redirection point are defined by the crew of the aircraft at
the time of the preparation of the flight plan.
3. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the particular flight
conditions to be complied with in order to activate the
modification of the flight plan when the aircraft passes through
the redirection point are stored in the redirection point database
in association with each trajectory skeleton leading from one of
these redirection points to the diversion airport.
4. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the decision engine
asks for the prior agreement of the crew of the aircraft in order
to perform the modification of the flight plan in progress.
5. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the choice made by the
decision engine when the aircraft passes through the redirection
point may be prescribed by the crew of the aircraft.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to assistance with the preparation
and with the following of a flight plan taking account of diversion
airports and their joining trajectories in respect of aircraft
provided with a flight management computer effecting the plotting
of a flight plan on the basis of a trajectory skeleton introduced
by the crew and consisting of waypoints associated with various
constraints on heading, speed, altitude, etc.
2. Description of the Related Art
A crew pilots an aircraft by way of various equipment installed on
board the aircraft and termed flight equipment. Such flight
equipment is distributed according to three levels as a function of
its position in the chain of actuation of the moveable surfaces and
of the engines of the aircraft. The first level consists of the
flight commands acting directly on the actuators of the movable
surfaces and engines. They allow manual piloting. The second level
consists of the automatic pilot and/or flight director which act on
the flight commands, directly for the automatic pilot and by way of
the pilot for the flight director, and which allow the pilot to
slave the aerodyne to a quantity related to the trajectory of the
aircraft: attitude, heading, slope, route, altitude, speed,
deviations with respect to routes, etc. The third level consists of
the flight management computer which acts on the automatic pilot
and/or flight director and which allows the pilot to plot a flight
plan and to more or less automatically follow the flight plan
adopted.
The plotting of a flight plan by a flight management computer is
done on the basis of a trajectory skeleton introduced by the crew
and consisting of waypoints associated with various constraints on
heading, altitude, speed, etc. By applying preprogrammed
construction rules, the flight management computer constructs a
route to be followed, on the basis of a chaining together of
segments linking the waypoints together in pairs from the departure
point to the arrival point and of circular arc transitions at the
level of the waypoints for the changes of heading between
segments.
During the preparation and the plotting of a flight plan, the crew
of an aircraft have a duty to ensure maximum safety of the mission
by taking account of the most common vagaries that may require an
unscheduled stopover or a diversion such as engine problems at
takeoff dealt with according to an EOSID procedure (the acronym
standing for the expression "Engine Out Standard Instrument
Departure"), engine problems while cruising that give rise for
twin-engines to restrictions of movement that are imposed by an
ETOPS procedure (the acronym standing for the expression "Extended
Twin OperationS"), problems of lack of fuel, of unexpected change
of airport runway in use, of unavailability of the destination
airport, etc.
It is known, in particular through American patents U.S. Pat. Nos.
5,842,142, and 5,398,186 to facilitate the work of a crew in taking
account of a diversion airport in case of closure of the
destination airport or of emergency situation, by calling upon an
onboard database or one which is accessible by radio transmission
from the aircraft, cataloging the diversion landing fields, upon an
interface for programming the flight management computer termed the
MCD (the acronym standing for the expression "Multipurpose Control
Display") displaying, on request by the crew, a list of diversion
airports ranked as a function of their proximities to the current
position of the aircraft and, after selection, by the crew, of one
of the diversion airports proposed, a proposal of a choice of
trajectories for joining the diversion airport selected on the
basis of the current position of the aircraft, which are calculated
by the flight management computer.
This aid alleviates the work of a crew in the case of an incident
in the course of a flight justifying a diversion but it demands
that the crew program the flight computer while at the same time
having to ward off the consequences of the incident that has
occurred.
It is also known, in particular through American patent U.S. Pat.
No. 6,519,527, to facilitate the plotting by the crew of an
aircraft of a flight plan complying with an ETOPS procedure, by
calling upon an onboard database or one accessible by radio
transmission cataloging the landing fields placed in proximity to
the route of the aircraft between its departure point and its
destination, and by having the flight management computer determine
a band linking the departure point of the aircraft to its
destination point, in which band the trajectory of the flight plan
must be situated in order for the aircraft to remain constantly at
a distance from an emergency airport cataloged in the database,
which is less than that prescribed by the ETOPS procedure.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is aimed at assistance to the preparation of
a flight plan for the crew of an aircraft provided with a flight
management computer, facilitating the taking into account of
diversion airports and their joining in case of vagaries while
minimizing the work load of the crew upon the occurrence of a
flight incident.
Its subject is a flight management system for aircraft providing
the crew of the aircraft with information on diversion airport
joining trajectories staggered along the path of the aircraft. This
flight management system is provided with a flight management
computer plotting a flight plan on the basis of a trajectory
skeleton consisting of a series of waypoints associated with
various flight constraints such as constraints on heading,
altitude, speed, etc, introduced by the crew, individually or in
subsets. It is noteworthy in that it comprises a database of
redirection points, accessible from the aircraft, cataloging
associations of waypoints, and of skeletons of trajectories for
joining diversion airports starting from these waypoints termed
redirection points, and a decision engine activating, under
particular flight conditions, a modification of the flight plan
followed by the flight management computer consisting in following
a trajectory for joining a diversion airport, said trajectory being
constructed on the basis of the information stored in the database
of redirection points.
Advantageously, the particular flight conditions to be complied
with in order to activate a modification of the flight plan when
the aircraft passes through a redirection point are defined by the
crew of the aircraft at the time of the preparation of the flight
plan.
Advantageously, the particular flight conditions to be complied
with in order to activate a modification of the flight plan when
the aircraft passes through a redirection point are stored in the
data memory cataloging the redirection points in association with
each trajectory skeleton leading from one of these redirection
points to a diversion airport.
Advantageously, the decision engine asks for the prior agreement of
the crew of the aircraft in order to perform a modification of the
flight plan in progress.
Advantageously, the choice made by the decision engine may be
prescribed by the crew of the aircraft.
Other characteristics and advantages of the invention will become
apparent from the description hereinbelow of an embodiment given by
way of example.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
This description will be offered in conjunction with the drawing in
which,
FIG. 1 represents the configuration of a flight management system
for aircraft making it possible to implement the method according
to the invention, and
FIG. 2 represents an exemplary plot of flight plan in accordance
with the invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS
As shown in FIG. 1, an onboard flight management system comprises
an FMS flight management computer 10. The latter exchanges various
information with a navigation database 11 termed NavDB (the acronym
standing for "Navigation Database"), with a database of redirection
points 17 and with other equipment 12 of the aircraft. It
communicates with the crew of the aircraft by way of man/machine
interfaces among which are chiefly: an FCU control panel 13 with
switches, buttons, displays and indicator lights allowing the
selection and customization of the principal modes of operation of
the FMS computer 10 and of the automatic pilot and/or flight
director on which the FMS computer 10 acts but which is not
represented so as not to needlessly overburden FIG. 1. a PFD
primary flight display 14 used to display an artificial horizon,
and flight parameters such as the altitude of the aircraft, its
attitude, its speed vector, an indication of the mode of guidance,
etc, an ND navigation display 15 for displaying maps, the flight
plan, etc., an MCD display and input console 16 having a keypad and
a screen surrounded by function keys, and constituting the main
instrument of dialogue with the FMS computer 10.
The FMS computer 10 assists the crew of an aircraft in the
definition of the flight plan before takeoff and in the following
of the flight plan from takeoff up to landing. Its assistance in
the definition of the flight plan consists in simplifying for the
crew, the plotting, in the horizontal and vertical planes, of the
trajectory that the aircraft will have to follow in order to
fulfill its mission while reducing this plotting operation, as far
as the crew is concerned, merely to the definition of a trajectory
skeleton formed of a succession of waypoints associated with
various flight constraints such as altitude, speed, heading or the
like. During the preparation of the flight plan, the crew enter
into the FMS computer 10, by means of the MCD console 16, in an
explicit or implicit manner, the geographical coordinates of the
waypoints and the flight constraints associated therewith and
obtain from the FMS computer 10 a flight plan constructed on the
basis of a chaining together of segments linking the waypoints in
pairs from the departure point up to the destination point and of
circular arcs effecting the transitions of heading between segments
at the level of the waypoints, flight plan which is displayed on
the ND navigation display 15 to allow the crew to verify its
relevance.
The navigation database NavDB 11, which is onboard or accessible by
radio transmission from the flight management computer of the
aircraft, catalogs at 110, in a set of files individual to the
names of navigation procedures that the aircraft may be obliged to
comply with in its customary deployment space, skeletons of pieces
of trajectories (series of waypoints with the associated flight
constraints) necessary for the flight management computer to plot
flight plan portions in accordance with the pertinent navigation
procedures. It may even cataloge, at 111, in a set of files
individual to the names of flight plans, skeletons of trajectories
corresponding to flight plans predefined by the airline operating
the aircraft.
The MCD console 16 allows the crew to introduce the plotting data
of a flight plan into the FMS computer 10, either at the elementary
level of the waypoints and of the flight constraints associated
with the waypoints, or at the intermediate level of the navigation
procedures which make it possible to re-enter into the FMS computer
10 sequences of plotting data involving portions of the flight plan
that are stored in the navigation database NavDB 11, or else, at
the overall level of the flight plan itself by calling upon the
plotting data of a complete flight plan likewise stored in the
navigation database NavDB 11.
With a view to facilitating, in the course of the flight, a
diversion to a substitute airport, it is proposed, during the
preparation of the flight plan, to plot, on the trajectory normally
followed by the aircraft during its mission, various branchoffs
which lead to diversion airports within range of which the aircraft
passes when it follows its normal trajectory and which the aircraft
may possibly be able to follow with the aid of its flight
management computer 10 in case a problem justifying a diversion
should occur, such as an engine fault on takeoff implying the
following of an EOSID procedure, an engine fault while cruising,
the possibility of which implies the following by twin-engines of
an ETOPS procedure, a need for refueling, a late change of landing
runway in use, a sudden unavailability of the destination airport
due, for example, to poor meteorological conditions.
For the plotting of a flight plan with branchoffs leading to
diversion airports, the flight management computer 10 relies both
on the navigation database 11 and on the database of redirection
points 17 which encompasses skeletons of trajectories for joining
the diversion airport starting from particular waypoints termed
redirection points. Upon the introduction of a flight plan skeleton
by the crew, the flight management computer 10 analyzes, with the
aid of the database of redirection points 17, the nature of the
waypoints introduced by the crew, those having the quality of
redirection points implying the automatic addition, at their levels
on the trajectory of the flight plan, of branchoffs leading to
diversion airports.
FIG. 2 gives an exemplary plot, in the horizontal plane, of a
flight plan with branchoffs leading to diversion airports and
starting from prescribed waypoints corresponding to redirection
points.
On mission departure, the aircraft crew's instructions, valid in
the absence of any incident, are to take off from the takeoff
runway 200 of a departure airport and proceed to the runway 201 of
a destination airport, passing above or in the neighborhood of a
succession of prescribed waypoints 202 to 210. In case of an engine
fault on takeoff, their instructions are to cancel the mission and
to bring the aircraft back down as soon as possible while following
an EOSID procedure which consists, in the case of this FIG. 2 of a
return to the takeoff runway 200 of the departure airport while
following a path for setting safety conditions for landing defined
by another succession of prescribed waypoints 202, 203, 304 to 309.
In case of problems in the course of the flight justifying an
unscheduled stopover, such as a lack of fuel, an engine problem
during cruising flight, a passenger problem, etc. they have the
possibility of coming down at the start of the mission on the
landing runway 400 of a first diversion airport and two thirds of
the way through their mission on the landing runway 500 of a second
diversion airport. In case of unavailability of the runway 201
initially scheduled for landing at the destination airport, their
instruction is to use a replacement landing runway 600 of the
destination airport. Finally, in case of unforeseen closure of
their destination airport, their instructions are to continue their
flight to an alternate airport by following a path defined by a
succession of prescribed waypoints 700, 701, 702 703, etc.
During the preparation of the flight plan, the crew enters into the
flight management computer, by means of the MCD man/machine
interface 16, the coordinates of the takeoff runway 200 of the
departure airport, of the successive waypoints 202 to 210, of the
landing runway 201 of the destination airport 201, and the
associated flight constraints which constitute a trajectory
skeleton on which the flight management computer 10 relies for
plotting in the horizontal plane and in the vertical plane (not
represented), the trajectory 20 which will normally be followed by
the aircraft in the absence of vagaries. The flight management
computer displays the plot obtained for approval by the crew. Then,
performs the following of the plot accepted by the crew.
Only the trajectory 20 normally followed by the aircraft, in the
absence of vagaries, in order to fulfill its mission is plotted in
the horizontal plane and in the vertical plane by the flight
management computers of the prior art. However, given the ever
greater computational power of flight management computers, it has
been sought to augment the aid they afford to the crew in the
management of the flight by extending their actions in cases of
difficult situations justifying a diversion. Thus, certain flight
management computers provide for an additional function of
automatic following of an EOSID trajectory in case of an engine
fault on takeoff. Others allow a crew, by means of a fairly
unwieldy customization procedure requiring recourse to an MCD
man/machine interface 16, to select during flight an alternate
airport to which they plot a route from the instantaneous position
of the aircraft which they are capable of following automatically
after approval from the crew. However, even with these flight
management computers, a change of destination in case of diversion
remains a relatively unwieldy operation for a crew in a tense
context.
The flight management system proposed with its database 17 of
redirection waypoints associated with diversion airport joining
trajectory skeletons allows its flight management computer 10 to
plot the trajectory 20 normally followed by the aircraft,
supplemented, at the waypoints which turn out to be redirection
waypoints, with branchoffs leading to diversion airports. Thus, the
first redirection waypoint encountered 203 is the start of a
trajectory 30 for returning to the runway used on takeoff complying
with the EOSID procedure established for this runway. The second
redirection waypoint encountered 204 is the start of a trajectory
40 for joining the diversion airport 40. The third redirection
waypoint encountered 206 is the start of a trajectory 50 for
joining another diversion airport 50. The fourth diversion waypoint
encountered 208 is the start of a trajectory 60 for joining a
replacement landing runway 600 and of a trajectory 70 for joining a
diversion airport.
During automatic or nonautomatic following of such a flight plan,
the crew of the aircraft grappling with a flight situation
requiring a diversion is offered at least one ready-made solution
which they merely have to approve in order for it to be implemented
at the next redirection waypoint encountered.
According to a preferred variant, the redirection waypoints are
cataloged in the database 17, and are associated not only with
flight constraints and at least one trajectory skeleton for joining
a diversion airport but also with conditions of activation of each
diversion airport joining trajectory that are modifiable by the
crew and the flight management computer 10 is provided with a
decision engine which is activated when the aircraft passes above
or in proximity to each redirection waypoint and which decides, as
a function of compliance or otherwise with the activation
conditions associated with the redirection waypoint concerned, on
the following of a trajectory for joining a diversion airport or on
the continuation of the normal flight plan. The automatic
conditions of activation of a trajectory for joining a diversion
airport may be an engine fault, an arrival time outside of a given
slot, an insufficient quantity of fuel on board, etc.
During the preparation of the flight plan, the introduction by the
crew into the flight management computer 10, by way of the MCD
man/machine interface 16, of the series of prescribed waypoints
forming the skeleton of the flight plan which is effected in an
elementary manner, the crew entering one by one the compulsory
waypoints and the associated flight constraints, or more or less
global, the crew entering groupings of prescribed waypoints with
the associated flight constraints corresponding to pieces of
skeletons of trajectories or even to a complete trajectory
skeleton, is accompanied, on the part of the flight management
computer with a request to accept or to modify the conditions of
activation of each diversion airport joining trajectory that are
associated with each redirection waypoint accepted.
Such a flight plan with branchoffs of optional trajectories for
joining diversion airports is especially suitable for an ETOPS
flight, for a flight with optional technical stopovers, for taking
into account an EOSID procedure to an airport which may be the
takeoff one or another one nearby. It also offers a simple
alternative to the regulatory substitute aerodrome.
One way of facilitating the preparation of a flight plan consists
in calling upon, for the construction of the skeleton of the flight
plan, trajectory skeleton pieces stored in the navigation memory,
which are delimited by redirection waypoints and short enough for a
redirection waypoint to always be within reasonable range if a
situation justifying a diversion occurs suddenly during flight.
Of course, the crew can manually select a trajectory for joining a
diversion airport before the aircraft has reached the redirection
waypoint constituting its branchoff from the flight plan and they
retain the option to revert to such a selection as long as the
aircraft has not reached this redirection waypoint. The manual
activation of a trajectory for joining a diversion airport is
effected as simply as the activation of an alternate flight
plan.
In the same way, the crew have, during the flight, the possibility
of modifying a diversion airport joining trajectory predefined
during the preparation of the flight plan but this presupposes that
the situation justifying the diversion allows them to devote part
of their attention to the customization of the modification in the
flight management computer.
The flight management system just described may also comprise a
function for searching for the diversion airports nearest (in terms
of flight time, not necessarily of distance) to a segment of the
flight plan relying on a diversion airport directory cataloged in
the navigation database.
One of the most interesting applications of the flight management
system just described is the possibility of multiple late changes
of landing runway. Indeed it may carry out automatically,
immediately upon the approval by the crew of a change of landing
runway, the selection of the correct frequency of the ILS guidance
system and the following of the sidestep for joining the new runway
already computed during the preparation of the flight plan.
* * * * *